Kiki went to Harrisburg today with what she called her “army,” the 123 pages of signatures and good wishes from 5,243 members of MomsRising that she held in her hands. Starting with the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, Kiki visited Rep. O’Brien’s office, the chair of the House Judiciary committee, which is holding up HB 352. From Kiki: My first stop was to Rep. O’Brien’s office where I met with his secretary Christine Crone. I introduced myself and gave her the “packet” and asked that Rep. O’Brien PLEASE take action and bring HB 352 to committee now. While I was talking to her, Michael Piecuch, Esq. who is chief counsel to the Judiciary Committee walked over. I repeated my speech to him as well. He said he has been asked if there is federal protection against marital/familial status discrimination. I told him if there were, I wouldn’t have to be fighting for the last 12 years to amend the PA Human Relations Act.

WTAE-TV News Pittsburgh aired an editorial recently calling for Pennsylvania lawmakers to stop discriminating against mothers and to pass legislation now that would end these horrible discriminatory practices in job interviews. How cool is it that! Do you hear us, PA legislators? We are getting louder! Watch it here.

The momentum is growing here in the keystone state. Do you feel it? Dozens of blogs are talking about the problem of "maternal profiling" here and in 27 other states; thousands signed the online petition; and lawmakers might just be waking up. Yes, people care about the fact that it is legal -- in the majority of states in this country -- to ask someone in a job interview if they are married or have kids and decide to hire that job applicant, or not, based on their answers. (Ugh. I hate writing that, every time I type it, it makes me madder. I just can't believe it is true.)

It is almost hard to put into words what it was like to be under one roof with 5,000 Pennsylvania women who are motivated for change. The energy was electric. Yesterday, a group of us including Georgia Berner, Georgia's friend Linda, Lindsay Patross, Lindsay's friend Breen and I staffed a booth for MomsRising.org at the PA Governor's Conference for Women. We were there, as we have posted, to tell people about the fact that in Pennsylvania it is legal to ask someone in a job interview if they are married or if they have children. Our mission was to help propel these 5,000 Pennsylvanians into action. From a booth with a great "MomsRising" red carpet and a beautiful MomsRising.org banner, we distributed The Motherhood Manifesto, the MotherHood Manifesto DVD and a fantastic handout. We even had a raffle for a 'Steelers' basket - which, in Pittsburgh, is always a hit. Mostly we talked, and talked and talked.